THE MADHYA Pradesh High Court today paved the way for hearing on the petition challenging Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s election in Budhni by-election. The court turned down the Chief Minister’s plea to reject the petition, as it was not filed in the stipulated time limit.
The court observed that the petition was not of an urgent nature and it was not necessary for the petitioner and Congress candidate for the by-poll, Raj Kumar Patel, to file it during the court’s summer vacation.
On August 29, the single bench of High Court Justice A K Saxena had reserved the order on the CM’s objection that Patel did not file the petition within 45 days of declaration of the poll result. On Thursday, the petitioner’s counsel submitted
that the petition had been filed within the stipulated time.
The petitioner has alleged that Chouhan held several offices of profit on the day of filing his nomination for the Budhni by-poll, including chairmanship of MP Planning Board, MP Agency for Promotion of Information Technology, MP Road Development Corporation, MP Sanskritik Parishad, MP Madhyam and MP Science and Technology Council.
Besides, the petitioner contended, fax messages were sent to some ministers from the CM’s official residence and other offices during the by-election, which was gross misuse of government machinery and violation of Section 123 (7) of Representation of People’s Act-1951. Patel has also sought the CM’s disqualification on grounds like uninterrupted power supply to the Budhni Assembly constituency during electioneering.
Besides, the petitioner contended, fax messages were sent to some ministers from the CM’s official residence and other offices during the by-election, which was gross misuse of government machinery and violation of Section 123 (7) of Representation of People’s Act-1951. Patel has also sought the CM’s disqualification on grounds like uninterrupted power supply to the Budhni Assembly constituency during electioneering.